Historically, there has been price confusion when a consumer visits a dealership to purchase a vehicle. With the help of the Internet, today's consumers can do their research online before they visit any dealerships. However, as far as the actual sales price is concerned, what the consumers can glean from the web sites online is quite limited.
For example, a web site may list a price such as a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) for a vehicle. However, there is no guarantee that that is the price for that particular vehicle or that particular vehicle is actually on the lot of a particular dealership.
As another example, a web site may allow a consumer to specify a desired configuration of a vehicle and obtain a price for the vehicle from a dealer affiliated with the web site (or an entity owning the web site). However, the consumer may not find out until after they have made an effort and traveled to the dealership that the exact vehicle does not exist—either the vehicle with the desired configuration is not part of that particular dealer's inventory or that virtual vehicle configuration does not exist physically.
Understandably, the current at-the-dealer auto buying experience still leaves consumers confused and unprepared to navigate the complexities of purchasing a new or used vehicle. Consequently, there is room for innovations and improvements.